Today’s guest blogger is Rebecca Brittingham. Happy July 4th, everyone. Let freedom ring!

Barbeques, fireworks, pool parties, and parades will be itching their way into most American homes. Children, parents and grandparents will proudly wear the colors red, white and blue, while the American flag will wave valiantly across the country. Favorite traditional patriotic songs — “The Star Spangled Banner”, “God Bless America”, and “Yankee Doodle Dandy”— will be ringing in the streets, on the radio and the television. This week, the night sky will be painted colorfully with crackling flames sending chills down one’s spine. July 4, Independence Day is upon us.

Festivities, leading up to Independence Day, have already begun. Americans line their yards with the American Flag while churches, and various dance troupes prepare patriotic programs honoring military men and women. Today, Americans enjoy freedoms that many other countries do not. Americans choose to wake up and go to work, where to drive and what to eat. Americans have a right to purchase groceries at the market of their choice and choose their transportation.

While other countries would silence their citizens for speaking out against injustice, American citizens are encouraged to fight for justice. They have a right to vote, go to court, sign petitions and speak out against injustice. America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, has been a haven and refuge for immigrants. America was birthed out of a desire to preserve one’s rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” guaranteed by the Constitution.

Freedom is like the forming of pearl in a mollusk. Years after particles of sand enter into a mollusk, the constant rubbing and pressure transforms the sand into a beautiful priceless gem. The longer the pearl undergoes the treatment, the larger and more valuable the pearl becomes. Similarly, Freedom is a right, a privilege and a jewel that should never be taken for granted.

It is easy to forget the price that was paid to ensure freedom in America. However, freedom is a gift that comes with a price. It must be defended and fought for in order to preserve it. Ronald Reagan once said,, “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and lost it, have never known it again.”